When I wrote my thesis on John Douglas I was vaguely aware that when he finished up as the Queensland Agent-General for Immigration in London in May 1871, he returned to Brisbane via the USA and New Zealand. However I was unable to find any further information.
Searching TROVE, I have now uncovered an account of a lecture he gave about his trip, entitled "Three Weeks in America". Here it is, published in the Queensland
Times, Saturday
23 December 1871, page 4.
Mr. John Douglas delivered his lecture, "Three Weeks in America," in the School of Arts last evening. The Mayor occupied the chair, and introduced the lecturer, who commenced his description from the start at Liverpool on board a Cunard steamer, which called at the Cove of Cork, and took in several hundreds of passengers for America. A few of the incidents of the voyage only were related, and a description followed of the mode of travelling in Boston, and of the customs, dress, and manners of the people, especially the ladies. He next described visits to the university, cemetery, and principal public buildings in Boston, and gave a humorous description of social habits amongst the modern young Americans. An account was next given of the trip to New York on board one of the magnificently furnished steamers so well known and appreciated by American travellers. The Castle Gardens immigration depôt was first referred to, and the regulations existing in regard to the immigrants, their luggage, and arrangements for their personal accommodation. The principal streets and the central park were next described with great clearness and eloquence. The journey up the Hudson, and a visit to Albany, the political capital of the state, followed; after which a description of night railway travelling was given. Niagara was the next place visited; the world-famed falls, the town, and the Canadian volunteer system in the military schools of the town were each explained. Toronto, its schools and educational theatres, and the educational system of Ontario, with its public libraries, were next reviewed in in order. London, and Hamilton and Detroit, were the next towns visited on the way to Lake Michigan. Chicago on Sunday was then described. Council Bluff and Omaha, the centres of the splendid lands of the West on either side of the Missouri; Cheyenne and the ascent towards the Rocky Mountains, Sherman, 18,000 feet above the level of the sea, the descent towards Salt Lake, by Laramie and Ogden, were all reviewed in passing. The Latter Day Saints of Utah, many of whom had been brought into contact with the lecturer, who was introduced to the president and a son of his, were next spoken of. The Great Basin country, extending over 600 miles of sterile country, through an Alpine district, was the next section travelled over. San Francisco was compared to Melbourne, which the lecturer was of opinion it did not exceed as a city. The three different sections of the great Pacific railway lines—the central, the northern, and southern—were then described; and Mr. Douglas concluded a highly interesting and most instructive address by expressing a hope that our relations with America might grow steadily, to the benefit of both countries. The route of the journey was described by means of a large map upon which the different stages were distinctly marked. A vote of thanks to the lecturer, proposed by Mr. J. M. Thompson, concluded the meeting.
